Under Construction
T-100 Solid Axle Swap.
During the summer of ’03 I traded a running
83 Toyota pick-up 
for a 93 T-100 without a motor or front suspension. The
pick-up had a rusted frame and I needed a bigger truck for towing my 40 with. I
had had a T-100 in the past, bought new in ’97, that I really liked except for
the 2 wheel drive and the wimpy V-6. The donor was perfect. I could install a
V-8 and a solid axle under it and fix the problems Toyota had cursed the T
with.
I used a pair of Landcruiser FJ-40 springs I had for the front springs. I wanted to use the springs under the axle as the plan for this truck was a tow rig. Unfortunately for that plan, the Dana 44 front axle I was given with the truck was difficult to line up with the axle under the spring. Finally I gave up and went with the SOA (Spring Over Axle) The previous owner had already installed perches on the rear for the rear spring over so that part was easy. You can see in the before pics that the rear sits up very high.
I used a pair of FJ-40 front spring hangers to mount the
front of the axle. They are meant for the rear of the front spring, but I
thought I would go ahead and to a shackle reversal at the same time. The
shackles should go through the frame at the rear of the spring, but the angle
of the frame at that point restrict that option, so they are mounted below the
frame through a bracket.
The truck sits very nice now. I don’t think
I’d like to go back to the spring under. The 31 inch Dunlops are history. It
now sits on some 38.7 x 15 Gumbo mudders that would require some rear fender
trimming. As good as that looks, I suspect the final tire size will be 35
x 12. The weight of the 350 has brought the front down a bit as well.
I have recently rebuilt the front Dana 44. I bought two High Steer steering
arms from Shakerbuilt. I
machined the half inch spacers on my Bridgeport, as well as machined the flat
top knuckle on the right side to accept a steering arm. I decided to go with
tie rod ends after reading Billavista’s
tech articles on Pirate
For the steering linkage itself, I used 1.25x.25 DOM tubing. I tried to tap the insides direct for 7/8-18 threads to accept ¼ ton GM TREs, but the taps were very expensive and the South Bend lathes at work were not up to the task of making acceptable inside threads. Instead I ordered weld in inserts from Poison Spyder
I had some debate over T-100, mini truck, or GM Saganaw steering boxes. I chose the Saganaw based on the amount of fabrication I would have to do. The Toyota box would need to be moved forward anyway, and would not accept the GM power steering lines. It would also require a relay rod with Toyota TRE on one end. That would not be a big deal unless I broke it some place where I could not buy a spare. Either way I would have to fab a steering column because my stock one was fitted to a rack and pinion as the truck started life as a 2WD. I could have gone with a late model box, like I did, or an early truck box outside the frame rails. That might have been easier because of how the column came out of the firewall, and for steering shaft clearances. I ended up going inside as much because I found a good deal on a late model Suburban box than anything.
The bottom two bolts go through the frame
with an internal tube welded through the scab plates. The top bolt is supported
by the scab plates and a .25" angle that also gussets the scab plates. The upper
link between the Suburban lower steering column and the Toyota is 1" round stock
ground to a double-D on one end and turned down to fit into the 1.25x.25 DOM
shaft. It is full circle welded and plug welded. The stock Toyota column is
turned down for the other end of the DOM after going through a support bearing
set into a custom plate where the stock steering column firewall plate was.